USMNT looks to bounce back against strong Japan side.

By Kenta Hagiwara 

SEPTEMBER 8, 2025 (COLUMBUS, OH) – Mauricio Pochettino’s US Men’s National Team look to bounce back after suffering another loss on home soil, losing 0-2 against AFC’s South Korea on Saturday. They’re set to play a Japanese side that cruised through AFC’s World Cup Qualification and have emerged as Asia’s best team in recent years.

Mauricio Pochettino had mentioned the significance of friendly matches in his very first press conference when he was announced as the new US Men’s National Team manager. In a presser on Monday at OhioHealth Performance Center, the mentality seemed to have shifted, with the focus on friendlies being more about the process, giving players opportunities to prove themselves – all more a glorified training session than a competitive match, something Pochettino said is worth it to better the product at the 2026 World Cup, even if it “compromises the result.”

“If people want to talk bullsh*t, they can talk bullsh*t,” Pochettino said at the Columbus Crew training facility on Monday, just steps away from Historic Crew Stadium, the first soccer specific stadium in the country’s history. “Of course I want to win, I want to win against South Korea, and I want to win tomorrow against Japan. But at the same time, we need to provide time to players who maybe have no experience. And maybe we can struggle and make mistakes and compromise the result. Of course I want to win, but also we need to think in the process and give the possibility to players to perform in a difficult situation.”

“You remember March?” Mauricio Pochettino said to the media on Monday, a question that was met with understanding nods by most of the media members in the room. March, of course, was 2025 CONCACAG Nations League, a tournament that ended in disappointment for the USMNT losing both to Panama and Canada in the final round, failing to make the podium in the tournament.

"I want to win because I am competitive. I know how we are moving in this work, if you win it's easy to say “oh very good, very nice, good decision”, how good we are. But if you lose, but you play well, yes, no, this, criticize everything,” Pochettino stated about the criticism around the USMNT’s form. The USMNT, under Pochettino, has just one win against Top-30 FIFA ranked nations, a win against Panama in October of 2024 followed by seven straight losses: 0-2 to Mexico, 0-1 to Panama, 1-2 to Canada, 1-2 to Turkyie, 0-4 to Switzerland, 1-2 to Mexico, and most recently 0-2 to South Korea. Outscored 5-15 in those eight matches, going 1-7-0.

On a sidenote, Pochettino was very complimentary when asked about the Japanese team. Included in his response was a call out to two former Japanese footballers, Shunsuke Nakamura, whom he coached briefly in his time at Espanyol, and former Japanese international striker Akinori Nishizawa, who he was teammates with during his time as a player at, once again, Espanyol.

Pochettino complimented Japanese football culture, using the descriptor “disciplined”. It’s a term almost synonymous with the Samurai Blue over the years, especially with the rise to success of the Japanese national team under head coach Hajime Moriyasu. Pochettino also spoke of how effective the Japanese team can be, mentioning the come-from-behind upset win against Spain in the 2022 Qatar World Cup group stages, a group Japan eventually topped over European giants in Spain and Germany. Of course, for Japan, the ultimate task in 2026 is to win their first knockout stage match, a feat they’ve come so close to accomplishing the last few editions of the global competition.

USA Previous Result: USA 0, South Korea 2.

18' Son Heung-Min (Assist: Lee Jae-Sung)

43' Lee Dong-Gyeong (Assist: Son Heung-Min)

Japan Previous Result: Mexico 0, Japan 0.

Previous H2H (9/23/2022): Japan 2, USA 0.

24' Daichi Kamada (Assist: Hidemasa Morita)

88' Kaoru Mitoma (Assist: Yuta Nakayama)

Japan

Japan comes into their match against the USMNT with a team depleted of key contributors due to injury. Just to name a few at two key positions:

Injured CBs: Takehiro Tomiyasu (Free Agent), Hiroki Ito (Bayern München), Kota Takai (Tottenham), Junnosuke Suzuki (Copenhagen), Koki Machida (Hoffenheim).

Injured CMs: Ao Tanaka (Leeds), Hidemasa Morita (Sporting CP), Reo Hatate (Celtic)

Japan kept their 3-4-2-1 shape in the scoreless draw against Mexico despite the depleted center back depth, with Ko Itakura (Monchengladbach), Tsuyoshi Watanabe (Feyenoord), Ayumu Seko (Le Havre) as the starting trio.

Japan played Crystal Palace midfielder Daichi Kamada alongside Wataru Endo in the double pivot against Mexico over the weekend. Kamada, a late addition to the Samurai Blue roster, called up alongside Mainz midfielder Kaishu Sano, the latter who subbed in for Kamada in the midfield in the 69th minute.

Despite their injuries in central midfield and central defense, Japan have an abundance of European talent in their forward group, headlined by Real Sociedad forward Takefusa Kubo and Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma. The group will have plenty to go forward to threaten the USMNT defense.

Starting RWB Ritsu Doan returned to Eintracht Frankfurt following the match in Oakland as Frankfurt prepare for a Bundesliga match against Bayer Leverkusen on Friday. That absence leaves an opportunity for a player like Junya Ito to get a start, whose last start for Japan was in China in the third round of AFC World Cup Qualification back in November 2024. Despite the lack of starts, Junya Ito still led all of AFC World Cup Qualification with 10 assists, trailed by 2024 AFC Player of the Year - Qatar's Akram Afif.

More on Junya Ito - Ito got a move over the summer from recently relegated Stade Reims to Belgium giants Genk. Ito made his move from J.League side Kashiwa Reysol in January 2019 as a 1.5 year loan, before the Belgian club bought him on a permanent deal in the summer of 2020. Ito eventually would get the move to Ligue 1's Stade Reims in the summer of 2022 after recording 19 goals and 32 assists across two full seasons with Genk.

Head Coach Hajime Moriyasu stated in his presser on Monday afternoon that he’s expecting to rotate his lineup from the scoreless draw against Mexico on Saturday. Along with Ritsu Doan’s absence, the only player mentioned was CB Ko Itakura, who left the match on Saturday in Oakland after suffering a right leg injury. Itakura’s availability for Tuesday’s match against the USMNT is still to be determined, per Moriyasu.